W8KVX shack of Don Chesser,
Byesville Ohio circa 1932. He was a teenager and loved CW and DX.
All of Don's gear was home rolled when he started out. He loved
CW and was very active on 40 and 20 Meters.

He had some personal tragedy as a
youth. He lost two brothers. One was just a child and wandered
off from the house (in Byesville, OH) and drowned in a nearby
creek. Read info on
Don's brother here!

In 1935, Don graduated from high
school and joined the U.S. Coast Guard. The above picture is Don
taking Coast Guard training at New London, CT. He had the luck of
the Irish. His first assignment was Cutter Tahoma, right out of
Cleveland, Ohio.

The photo above was given to me
(W8SU) by Don's boyhood chum W8KNZ Brook Eakin. Brooks told me he
spend many hours learning cw and electronics from his Elmer Don
Chesser. The picture I supplied of the Chesser bedroom station is
exactly as Brooks remembered it. Brooks said "Don's dad was
a burly guy and gruffy, he scared me to death!"

His nephew (Wesley) said he worked
for Don when he was in the TV sales and repair business in KY.
Wesley decided to work for GE in Virginia and was given the
approval by his Uncle Don. Wesley had a long career with General
Electric and said he owed Don an awful lot for his early
experience.

Don Chesser W4KVX 1960
Burlington, Kentucky

Don started out as a teen with the
callsign of W8KVX, born in Byesville, Ohio. He was a Coast
Guardsman in the mid to late 30s. Upon expiration of enlistment,
he joined the Air Lines out west as a hot trouble shooter. He
repairing Air Lines equipment all over the nation. After the war
and his service with the Air Lines, he settled in the Cincinnati,
Ohio area. He eventually moved to Burlington, KY, which is across
the Ohio River from Cincinnati. He was a long time Cincinnati
Police Department technician and dispatcher. He and Chief Jake
Schott W8FGX were close friends and DXpeditioners together. Don
became W4KVX in the 50s.

Don Chesser W4KVX was the editor
of the famous weekly "DX Bulletin" which ran from June
4, 1957 (1st issue was just a postcard) to issue #213 on February
29, 1964 (no goodbyes). His perspectives on DX have never been
matched. Not only was he a marvelous editor, he was a super CW
operator who could really rattle a Vibroplex. He was also a
member of the Ohio Valley DX Club.

W4KVX posted national high (#1)
scores in the 1954 and 1956 CW Sweepstakes contests. In 1954
W4KVX was #1 USA in CQWW DX CW as Multi / Single (Multi operator
/ Single transmitter). He must have felt hot in 1956, as he was
also #1 USA in CQWW DX CW, SOAB (Single Operator All Band). There
was some heavy competition in those days also, with W4KFC, W3GRF,
W2IOP/W9IOP, and others putting in major efforts. I doubt that
Don had the same degree of firepower as did some of his
competition.

Don was once married and divorced.
He had a son who he never visited after the child was an infant.
His wife would not allow visitation. Apparently Don was married
in Cleveland when he was in the Coast Guard, the wife was
studying art.

Don experienced a fire at his
business in Burlington, Kentucky. He never regained the ambition
to keep going in ham radio even though his friends helped him
rebuild. He mentioned in his DX magazine he lost thousands of QSL
cards, a very expensive collection of electronic parts, tubes,
and precision tools. He also lost three communications wagons,
the barn, his printing and TV repair business. He said he had
tons of electronic surplus that was all melted from the heat. He
was personal friends with Mr. Halligan from Hallicrafters.
Hallicrafters sent him a new HT32 for a station transmitter. The
DX Magazine continued for a short time and fell apart. Nephew Wes
said that after the fire, Don made the office into a fireproof
block construction and had parties weekly and enjoyed each others
company and festivities with the DX crew.

N8DE said:
After the fire, Don got Harry Habig, K8-something, to design a
building of POURED CONCRETE. It had 8' high walls and was about
12" thick! Only had a couple window openings and two door
openings .. one was double-wide on the East side of the building
, the other a single-wide door on the South end of the building.
I was working with him, in that building, when I got my finger
caught in the press through my stupidity. That building is now a
house ... I stopped and talked with the owner ... he had no idea
why the walls were so thick!

For a few years prior to his
death, Don lost all interest in radio. He then enjoyed an
extensive vinyl record collection. Don had collected vinyl
records and tapes, all types of genre, but mainly Classical. He
had a super sound system. Each LP and tape had a serial number,
all cataloged and set up like a professional music system.

Don expired of the dreaded male
prostate cancer. He was cremated by his nephew Wesley.

Don was an operator at the
Cayman Islands DXpedition VP5BH
March 20 - March 27, 1957

Don and crew were planning to go
to XE4 (XF4) Socorro Island. Here is a letter about Don chartering a boat for the XE4
trip. This DXpedition fell through as
their license didn't arrive in time.They then quickly switched
gears and proceeded to Navassa.

Don was an operator at the
Navassa Island DXpedition KC4AF
March 26 to March 31, 1958.

Navassa Island 1958; Don at the
controls. You can't beat an HT32 for a nice CW note! He had a
Ranger in the position for a backup. If you look closely at his
75A3 receiver, you can see the panel was open to do some quick
repairs! The HT32 would be lost in his QTH fire later on.

Don was an operator at the
Serrana Bank DXpedition KS4BB
March 20 to March 25, 1959

Don also operated at 4U1ITU in
June 1962. Don had to use a straight key for his first couple of
sessions, as his Vibroplex had been broken in transit. Later on
one of the Swiss hams found him an old bug, most likely a Lionel
J-36, and Don could speed things up.

Don almost got permission to
operate from the Vatican. Hallicrafters sent all of the gear over
and the station was all set. Don was turned down at the last
moment.

In 2012, at the Dayton Hamvention,
with research and help from W8SU, K8CX, W4QM, N8DE, KB8NW, K8ME,
Don Chesser W4KVX
was inducted in the prestigious CQ DX
Hall of Fame!